only a big deal, but a much bigger deal than being a challenger who would like to be the peds. i am the president. i consider it the best line of the night. third, he asked people to vote for him. this is something you need to hear. a person wants you vote, he should ask for it. its 0 something where learned for working for tip o'neal all those many years. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "the ed show" with ed schultz starts right now. >> good evening, americans. welcome to "the ed show" from new york. 60 days until the 2012 election. the democratic national convention has given barack obama a bounce. republicans are giddy over bad job numbers, and a story trending on twitter, an nfl punter taking a stand for equality on twitter. tlas on fire, we have an interview with chris kluwe. that's coming up. this is "the ed show." let's get to work. >> they don't want to show you their plan. that's because they know their plan won't sell.

>> the president continues to whack mitt romney for playing hide and seek a day after lighting him up in charlotte. >> i refuse to ask middle class families to give up their deductions for owning a hope or raising their kids just to pay for another millionaire's tax cut. >> tonight, richard wolffe and eugene robinson on all the convention fallout and the president bfs big bounce. >> john salts on mitt romney's pathetic excuse for ignoring the troops. >> when you give a speech, you don't go through a laundry list. you talk about the things you think are important. >> in ohio, secattaretary of st is playing chicken with a judge over voter suppression. nina turner is here. >> it's all our responsibility to stand up and tell the truth, and the truth of the matter is it's republicans who are suppressing the vote. good to have you with us tonight. thanks for watching the. the mission for democrats was to

offer a clear contrast for voters in never. they were right on target and last night, president obama seals the deal. he did not offer platitudes or easy answers. butt ehe offered a stark choice. >> i won't pretend the path i'm offering is quick or easy. i never have. udidn't elect me to tell you what you wanted to hear. you elected me to tell you the truth. and the truth is it will take more than a few years for us to solve challenges that have built up over decades. it will require a common effort and shared responsibility. and the kind of bold persistent experimentation that franklin roosevelt pursued in the only crisis worse than this one. >> i think we can agree that the country needs confidence right now and i think that the president took care of that last night. i think we all feel better about it, especially liberals and progressives. one of the biggest mistakes of the republican convention last week was the lack of confidence

and vision and direction for the country. americans are optimists. we believe, and president obama explained why the republican s were not offering a prescription for positive change. >> now, our friends down in tampa at the republican convention were more than happy to talk about everything they think is wrong with america. but they didn't have much to say about how they would make it right. they want your vote, but they don't want you to know their plan. and that's because all they have to offer is the same prescriptions they've had for the last 30 years. have a surplus? try a tax cut. deficit too high, try another. feel a cold coming on, take two tax cuts, roll back some regulations and call us in the morning. >> president obama didn't take his foot off the pedal, either. issue by issue, he pointed out why the republicans have not

offered specific plans. because they don't have any. >> over and over, we have been told by our opponents that bigger tax cuts and fewer regulations are the only way that since government can't do everything it should do anythlm nothing. if you can't afford health insurance, hope you don't get sick. if a company releases toxic pollution into the air your children breathe, well, that's the price of progress. if you can't afford to start a business or go to college, take my opponent's advice and borrow money from your parents. >> you know, in a lot of ways, this speech was president obama pfsh vision against the republicans to present a clear vision for america. the president asked americans, he asked americans to help him achieve his vision. >> i'm asking you to rally. around a set of goals for your country, goals in manufacturing,

energy, education, national security, and the deficit. real achievable plans that will lead to new jobs, more opportunity, and rebuild this economy on a stronger foundation. that's what we can do in the next four years. and that's why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states. >> the critics said the president's speech was nothing but lip service. the question is whether the president can deliver more job opportunities and improved economy in another four years in office. does he deserve the shot? here's the response to the critics who were out and about. a year ago, i think we have to point this out, a year ago, the president aunveiled the american jobs act. this is it. never got a notice. it was fully paid for, fully paid for and would have created up to 2 million jobs, republican they made sure it was dead on arrival in the congress. last september, the president went on the road. he toured the country pushing for infrastructure up grades,

spending for construction jobs, infrastructure attention. bridges, roads, it would have created jobs instantly. he even spoke at a damaged bridge in house speaker john boehner's district, but republicans still blocked any attempt at new job proposals. they were thinking, we only have one year to go here. why help him now? despite the engines of washington running against the president. despite the historic number, historic number of fill abusters in a do-nothing congress, and good spite the partisan agenda designed to take down this presidency, what do we have? we still have 30 consecutive months of private sector job growth. imagine that. without anybody else's help. this is all under president obama's watch, what he was handed, what he's done with it. at the end of this chart, you're going to see the numbers for august. it's okay. 96,000 new jobs were added, but

think about this. the 96,000 jobs that were added, republicans didn't help you get that job. could have been a lot better, but we're still adding jobs despite all of the republican efforts of obstruction. imagine what the employment situation would be like if the 2 million jobs the president had added. would it have been a different climate last night? would there be a different feeling in the country if he could step up and say we have added 2 million jobs in the last year? would you feel like the country was going in the right direction? of course you would. there would be no doubt. the democratic party spent three days making this case. it's early, but so far it looks like the americans people are starting to agree with the president. the president's approval rating rebounded. he's at 52%. 52%. seven points higher than his approval rating before the convention. maybe it's because americans across the country are understanding what this country has actually been up against. there has been a group of

elected officials who were supposed to go to washington and help make the country better. they've gone to washington to try to make it worse because they don't like the guy in thea. americans understand mitt romney is not offering a vision to get us out of these problems. >> if you share that faith with me, if you share that hope with me, i ask you tonight for your vote. if you reject the notion that this nation's promise is rer reserved for the few, your voice must be heard in this election. if you think your bid is beholding to the highest bidder, you need to stand up. if you believe in a country where everyone gets a fair shot and everyone gets a fair share and everyone played by the same

rules, i need you to vote this november. >> thing about how trivial the conversations have been coming from the republicans. he's not an american. we don't know where he was born. that last sound bite, did he look like he cared about america? did it look like he wanted americans to get a job? this election is 60 days away. the choice is before all of us. you will decide who makes the best case for america's future. gets your cell phones out. i want to know what you think tonight. tonight's question, who makes the better case for america's future? text a and president obama, text b for mitt romney to 622639. go to our blog at ed.msnbc.com. we'll bring you the results later on in the show. i'm joined tonight by richard wolffe and eugene robinson, msnbc political analyst and associate editor and pulitzer prize winner writer for the washington post. thanks for being here tonight. i want to start with the last

clip we showed was president obama getting kind of cranked up, getting forceful, making the case. but i thought there was a tone strategy last night not to oversell. richard, what do you think about that? >> you know, ed, let me say, i'm getting more than a little sick and tired of hearing that republican critics make this claim that this tone, the pitch of this speech was flat, there was nothing in it, and it's been repeated through the day by lazy journalists with all of the recall of a goldfish around a very small glass bowl. this president as a candidate and in office has always taken these big moments and toned things down. you don't have to be flying on the wings of oratory at these moments because the big moments speak for themselves. i was in the arena. there were people out there who were just thrilled to see him and reacted with passion to every line he delivered. the big speeches this president delivered as a candidate were

when he was in a hole. he needed to deliver a big speech in new hampshire when they lost or when reverend right burst on the scene and he was talking about race in philadelphia. this is a moment when the moment spoke for itself, and the speech delivered in terms of the framing and certainly in terms of the delivery. enough with the lazy memories and the glossing over. this president for his inaugural, for his acceptance four years ago, and last night, toned it down in the big moments. >> eugene, do you think the president motivated supporters and swing voters? asking for the vote the way he did was a very effective moment. >> it is also effective, i think, in politics to ask in that way. that creates more loyalty, actually, than anything else. when people respond. you know, i thought it certainly inspired supporters of the president. and i think he went a long way. i think the whole week went a

long way toward appealing to independents. even those who might be dissen chanted with the way things went the last four years to take stock, and to listen to what the republicans were saying and listen to what the president was saying and make a choice. i think that's the sort of consideration the president wants. >> president obama was on the campaign trail today repeating his argument about the republican vision. here it is. >> tax cuts. tax cuts. gut some regulations. oh, and more tax cuts. tax cuts when times are good. tax cuts when times are bad. tax cuts to help you lose a few extra pounds. tax cuts to improve your love life. it will cure anything, according to them. >> what about this approach, richard? this argument, how does it play out for the president, the way he's handling it? he's almost mixing in comedy and jabbing along the way with this.

it's a very serious ixue. we have to fix the treasury, and it is about the tax cuts. >> look, successful candidates can jab and punch and do it with a sense of humor. president clinton did it. president bush did it, too. it's a skill, a skill mitt romney hasn't shown yet. maybe he'll pick it up along the way. one thing to understand about this phase, the next big thing that mitt romney is doing this homework for are the presidential debates. what president obama did last night and is doing on the trail is setting up the debates. he's knocking down their arguments systematically so when he gets to the debates, people are already primed. that's why he's taking down their arguments one by one. especially this framing. yes, tax cuts, the same old ideas, tax cuts for everything, but also what you heard in that clip right at the top of the show, just because government cannot do everything, doesn't mean that government should do almost nothing. you're going to hear that again and again before the debates. >> and quickly, eugene, the job numbers today, does this put a damper on the president's speech

and the convention? >> the job numbers today were a downer. i mean, you know, now it's continued job growth. predictions were that the job number would be something like 200,000, and it ended up being 96,000. but my view is that the economy is what it is. we have growth that is too slow. there are reasons for that. there are things that could be fixed and things that would be difficult to fix. it's a -- the president made that argument. he's going to have to keep making it especially because we have to go to the election with the economy we have, not with the economy we would like to have. >> richard wolffe, eugene robin snl, you gentlemen are the best. thank you for joining us. remember to answer tonight's kwgz question at the bottom of the screen. share you thos on twitter and on facebook. coming up, romney failed to mention the troops in his acceptance speech. now his explanation is making matters even worse. john soelts coming up. coming u. . . . .

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coming up, mitt romney didn't think it was important to mention the troops in his rnc speech? iraq war veteran john soltj zoins me with reaction next. democrats speak out on women's issues and they have the policies to back it up. i'll ask terry o'neill if the democrats make a convincing case to women over the last three days. and later, chris kluwe taking on a delaware legislature for attacking freedom of speech and marriage ecallty. my exclusive guest tonight. share you thoughts with us on facebook and twitter using the hash tag ed show. we're coming right back. welcome aboard! [ chuckles ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ honk! ] ♪ [ male announcer ] now you'll know when to stop.

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welcome back to "the ed show." governor mitt romney is actually trying to defend his decision to omilt any mention of our troops in his acceptance speech. here's the explanation. >> when you give a speech, you don't go through a laundry list. you talk about the things you think are important. i described in my speech, my commitment to a strong military, unlike the president's decision to cut our military. and i didn't use the word troops, i used the word military. i think they refer to the same thing. >> romney says when he gives a speech, he talks about things that are important. he didn't talk about the troops in his acceptance speech. therefore, by romney's own definition, he didn't think the troops are very important. 6,473 troops have died in iraq and afghanistan. 49,746 americans have been wounded in those wars over the last ten years. suicides among veterans are a serious problem.

july set a record for a record high for the number of suicides in the united states military. then there are the multiple deployments that families go through, the military moms and dads waiting for their spouses to return home. romney said he spoke to the american legion and vfw, but that doesn't cut if. this is the party that practically coined the phrase, we support the troops. this is the party that demonized people who wouldn't wear the flag lapel pin. this is the party that always claimed to have the upper hand on protecting the country and national security and love of country. and accusing president obama of not being american enough and not loving the country, but mitt romney can't bring himself to n insert a paragraph about the troops in harm's way right now and have been there multiple times in his acceptance speech? i think it is the ultimate quis

qualifier. here's senator john kerry addressing the issue last night. >> no nominee for president should ever fail in the midst of a war to pay tribute to our troops overseas in his acceptance speech. mitt romney, mitt romney was talking about america. they are on the front lines every day, defending america and they deserve our thanks. >> tribute is the correct word. let's turn to john soltz. john serves in iraq in 2003 and again in 2011. john, your response to the lack of attention given to our troops and especially our troops in theater right now at the republican convention. >> i'm still shocked at governor romney's response. i can't believe he said that

this morning. in r5rds to what happened at the republican convention, he has a very, very unpopular position on afghanistan. the president's position isn't popular. mitt romney doesn't have a timeline to end the war. he would commit 100,000 troops there for an indefinite period of time, basically involved in a type of insurgentacy that is more related to the future of the afghan democracy than what happened with american security. he's got the neoconservative george bush advisers around him who frankly never served, who wants to talk about a policy position that isn't supported by the military and isn't supported -- maybe is only supported by 15% of the country? and they didn't mention or talk about what they were going to do to help the veterans returning home. that's probably because governor romney supporting his running mates budget, which is an $11 billion cut to veterans and almost 13% compared to what the president is proposing. >> so in a sense, he supported the budget, but paul ryan, $11

billion cuts to vets by not mentioning the vets and not mentioning the troops in afghanistan. what message does that send to the men and women in uniform? >> it's terrible. when you listen to the comment, i mentioned the military. this is sort of a conservative talking point, weapons systems. and there's this debate about weapons systems versus taking care of the military. will there be an attempt to take away the military pensions. when you have the president and he's thanking the troops, that's different than the military complex. just in the microcosm of what he said this morning on television about laundry lists. it's great to know our troops are considered part of a longer laundry list. if you want to talk about the priorities, they have chosen to talk about the top 2% of americans who are in a lower tax bracket that who serve the country like yoodo, and president obama and the vice president talk about the 1% of the people who are the troops who go and do the work. there's a huge disconnect about them understanding what we do in the military.

>> you think what they did at their convention and what the democrats did at theirs, a very lofty tribute, a very sincere, very detailed, and connecting it to policy and what they're going to do for veterans and the troops in our military, do you think that will affect this election? >> it affects this election with photo voters who care about the military. the perception with independent voters or undecided voters or americans want to know these kids have been fighting in a war for the past ten years and they have an administration that's not going to turn their back on them, and that goes a long further than just how veterans feel. it's very important. i think the other thing is it connected to the people. john kerry was superb last night when he made the statement about ask osama bin laden if he's better off today than four years ago. it was the largest cheer in the room. i think they focused in on things that connect to how americans felt. when the vice president stood up last night and mentioned the exact number and amount of troops killed and wounded, he has a personal connection to the issue.

i think if you talk to beau biden, he'll tell you his father is his best friend and they lived that experience together when beau went to iraq. there's one party close and understanding the sacrifice of the young men and women who fight, and then you have another party where you have the presidential candidate who says something like my sons are serving the country because they're working for my campaign and a vice presidential candidate who says i know something about war because i voted for it twice in congress. it plays exactly into their sort of inability to communication to regular americans and their sacrifice. >> jon, thanks for your time tonight. appreciate it so much. women were front and center in charlotte this week. will it help in november? president of the national organization for women, terry o'neill, will weigh in. >> then the fight for your right to vote. find out what ohio's secretary of state is apologizing tonight. but what's he going to do? the latest on the republican voter suppression efforts. that's just ahead. stay with us. questions?

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welcome back to "the ed show." the war on women. well, from health care reform to equal pay for equal work, women and women'sishis were front and center in charlotte. take a look. >> nothing gets done more to improve the day to day lives of american women and our families than health care reform. >> now, women are beginning to get the preventive services they deserve. >> this past year, women learned

when we aren't at the table, we're on the menu. >> mitt romney waujnts to take back to yesterday. >> an american where access to birth control is controlled by people who will never use it. >> it's like we mop up in a bad episode of "mad men." >> we believe there is no room for politicians, especially those politicians who don't know how women's bodies work. >> he believes that women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and our health care. that's what my husband stands for. >> but a different story from what we heard in tampa when it comes to policies that help women and their families, the gop is all talk. today in an interview with our nbc affiliate in davenport, iowa, ann romney continues to dodge the issues women care about. >> you in iowa, you know, same-sex marriage is legal. do you believe a lesbian mother

should be allowed to marry her partner? >> you know, i'm not going to talk about the specificish oo as. i'm going to let my husband speak on issues. >> do you believe employer provided health insurance should cover birth control? >> again, you're asking me questions that are not about what this election is going to be about. so really, if you want to try to pull me off of the other messages, it's not going to work because i know, because i have been out there. >> i don't want to pull you off any message. you just told a reporter who was questioning you in cleveland that you want wim toon have a secure and stable future. i asked you about marriage and about lesbian mothers should be allowed to marry. isn't marriage a part of creating a stable future? >> again, i'm going to talk to you about the economy and job creation. and about how my husband is the right person for the right time. this is going to be an election that is very important for women. and we are going to make sure

that their economic prosperity is more certain. >> joining me tonight is terry o'neill, president of the national organization for women. terry, great to have you with us. you want to respond to what you just heard? >> look, if the big issue is job creation, i agree that it is, then why is ann romney's husband supporting job destroying policies like the romney/ryan budget? let's be clear. stripping medicaid, converting it into a block grant program and then reducing the federal funding by as much as a third, that's going to shut down nursing homes across the country. it's going to kill women's jobs across the job. >> ann romney is arguing that marriage and contraception don't have anything to do with women's financial security. what is she talking about? >> well, frankly, she's dead wrong. if you listen to the crowd's response, ed, to the women who were talking at the democratic convention this week, it's the

women and the men who understand the relationship between women's access to health care and especially women's access to preventive health care like birth control, mammograms and cervical cancer screenings. there's a direct connection between screening and economic security on the other. it's very much about respect for women's rights, but it's also very much about women's economic security. >> in that -- and the thing is -- >> in that interview, she was dissing women. she just demeaned women, did she not, by saying that those issues aren't important? your thoughts? >> it's really striking to me. i have heard ann romney, i have heard nikki haley from south carolina say that the republicans should be able to pound women's access to reproductive health care over and over and over in dozens of bills at the federal level and then when women object and it's not just women advocates, ordinary women around the country, when they object, those same women slam ordinary women

and say, oh, don't you worry about that while you should be worried about jobs. they can't have it both ways. they can't attack women's access to reproductive health care and tell us not to worry about it. >> did the democrats make a strong enough case to affect this election, do you think? >> what needed to happen this past week is we needed to spark a fire. we really needed to spark the same passion that was at work in '08. that passion was very much in evidence in charlotte. now we have to get our ground game going because my prediction is that romney's people are going to be in the air. we know that they're not going to be dictated to by fact checkers, so they're going to be in the air, frankly, you know, without evidence and without facts. they're also, i'm afraid, going to be on the ground trying to suppress the vote. what we have to do is get enough people in there to vote to overwhelm their voter suppression efforts. >> i think -- i'm taking a leap here, but i think a lot of women are going to compare that response from ann romney to what

the first lady of the united states, michelle obama, has been talking about. terry o'neill, great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. coming up, an nfl punter writes a devastating takedown of a lawmaker over gay marriage. tonight, chris kluwe of the minnesota vikings is my exclusive guest. he's trending on twitter. a lot more coming up in the next half hour. stay with us. >> clint eastwood is finally splabic his rnc disaster. >> i'm nots going to shut up. it's my turn. >> you oent believe what he's saying now. >> and the ohio secretary of state is playing chicken with a federal judge over voter suppression. nina turner isn't pleased and she joined my tonight. this is. his morning starts with arthritis pain. and two pills. afternoon's overhaul starts with more pain. more pills. triple checking hydraulics. the evening brings more pain. so, back to more pills. almost done, when... hang on. stan's doctor recommended aleve. it can keep pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol.

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non-violent tool we have to create a more perfect union. >> civil rights icon and congressman john lewis giving an emotional speech about the republican voter suppression that's under way in this country. representative lewis joined dr. martin luther king in protests like this one in selma, alabama, in 1965. he risked his life to fight unfair voter registration practices. almost 50 years later, we still fight racism at the polls. but there's some good news out of ohio tonight. secretary of state john husted has backed down. at least a little. he's been fighting to block early voting. the real battle is over these three days. historically, ohioans have been able to vote on the weekend before the election. the republicans worry most of the early voters are democrats and obama supporters. 93,000 folks in that state voted during the weekend before the election in 2008. this year, john husted decided

to shut down the polls on those specific days. now, the obama campaign is taking husted to federal court. at first, he ignored the judge and told every county in the state to keep the polls closed. no early voting no matter what. but today, husted apologized, maybe he realized he can't ignore a federal court directive. the judge ordered him to personally come to the next hearing and this afternoon, husted assured the court he will comply with its findings. at this point, we still don't know if 93,000 people will get to vote the weekend before the election. the court will have to decide. he's also confusing voters in the city of toledo. he refuses to decide where they're going to put the voting sights in lucas county. the county is deadlocked and husted won't break the tie. democrats want the polling site downtown. republicans oppose that because they think it will make it just too easy for democrats to vote.

we are 60 days away from this election, and the republicans can't even agree on a polling site in one of ohio's biggest cities. go figure. let's be joined by ohio state senator nina turner. great to have you with us tonight. the latest developments, when the secretary of state, mr. hue std, said he will cupomply, do u believe that? >> he said that kind of sort of. he said he apologized to the judge for the impression he was not going to comply with his directive. his directive even though he issued a new directive, he asked the judge in his papers that he filed today, to place a stay. he's asking the judge for a stay. what that means is he wants his original directive, when is not to have early voting happen in the state of ohio, to hold until it's appealed. let us not forget that before the ink dried good, our attorney general mike dewine said very clearly, that he was going to

appeal. when the attorney general said that, secretary of state issued a directive to all of the boards of elections throughout the state of ohio and told them not to make a move. the judge was not pleased with that, and that's when he said secretary of state, you come see me next week. today, the secretary of state issued that directive and said, i apologize for the impression, but i am asking for a stay in this case as we appeal. ed, they are appealing to stop access to the ballot, so no, this is not necessarily a good thing in the state of ohio. enough is enough. they need to stop suppressing the vote. >> it sounds like the federal judge is certainly paying attention to what the heck the scheming that is going on here, when dewine came out and said that, the judge responded. i mean, that's the way -- so it sounds like you have a federal judge who is on top of this and going to make sure that these voters are going to be having the opportunity to vote early. but are the republicans in the midst of all of this succeeding in confusing ohio voters? what about that? >> absolutely, ed, not just ohio

voters. i was in charlotte and voters all over the country are confused. they don't know if it's voter id, vote early, late, or vote never. but we will not be deferred. some folks are too cool, calm, and collected about this. if your house was being robbed, you wouldn't be cool, calm, and collected. the republicans are trying to steal the election in the state of ohio and across this nation and there's something wrong with this. one mentor said to me, if your hair is on fire, you need to act like your hair is on fire. our hair should be on fire and across the country to have politicians to use their political clout to suppress the vote. and you're absolutely right, ed. the judge was not going to take it. and i don't know what the judge is going to decide, but where i come from, it's writing a check that your behind can't cash. it's stillina not clear whethere judge is going to have the secretary of state coming nin weex, but the judge is watching. >> i thought john lewis was

effective last night at the convention. are there any activist groups who thought of bringing in this icon, the congressman who was marching with martin luther king, who had the personal experience of actually fighting for the right to vote? it would seem to me that he would have a tremendous impact on the story. >> you're so right about that, ed. we thank the congressman for his service. and absolutely, my ohio senate caucus has reached out to the congressman and tried to get him to come to ohio to tell the story about this voter suppression, to tell the story about how we knot over. we have a short memory, and i want the folks in ohio to be encouraged because between the faith-based leaders of the ohio democratic party, the president's campaign, and other civic minded groups, we will not be deterred in the state of ohio, no matter how many rotten dirty tricks and traps the republicans set. we'll make sure that the voters in the state of ohio are informed. we're going to fight. we will not be moved, ed. >> and we'll stay on the story.

ohio state senator nina turner, thank you so much for joining us tonight. coming up, clint eastwood, well, he finally shares the inspiration behind the decision to speak to an empty chair. you won't want to miss it. stay futuned. my volt is the best vehicle i've ever driven. i bought the car because of its efficiency. i bought the car because i could eliminate gas from my budget. i don't spend money on gasoline. it's been 4,000 miles since my last trip to the gas station.

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welcome back to "the ed

show." thanks for watching tonight. clint eastwood's bizarre performance at least week's republican national convention took the country by storm. it was supposed to be mitt's big night. but everyone was confused on eastwood's decision to speak to an empty chair. today, eastwood broke his silence for the first time since taking the stage. and has revealed to inspiration for his 12-minute conversation with an invisible obama. in an interview with his home town paper, eastwood explained, there was a stool and some fella kept asking me if i wanted to sit down. when i saw the stool sitting there, it gave me the idea, and i'll just put the stool out there, and i'll talk to mr. obama and ask him why he didn't keep all of the promises he made to everybody. the stage hand who brought the chair out was apparently the only person who had any clue what eastwood was doing. eastwood said he arrived at the

convention site just 15 minutes before he was scheduled to go on. and didn't have anything vetted by the romney campaign. i told them, you can't do that to me because i don't know what i'm going to say. no kidding. now, despite the criticism, clint still believes his very unorthodox speech was a success. the president, president obama is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the american people. romney and ryan would do a better job of running the country, and that's what everybody needs to know. i may have irtalted a lot of lefties, but i was aiming for the people in the middle. that was not a direct hit, clint. i definitely wasn't irritated at all. that made my day. tonight, in our survey, i asked you, who makes the better

case for america's future? 96% of you say president obama. 4% of you say mitt romney. coming up, the butt kicking a maryland lawmaker caught from an nfl punter who spoke up for free speech. nfl punter chris kluwe joins me next. stay with us.

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attack, but the maryland lawmaker trying to attack it got a kick in the butt f you know what i mean. here's the story. a linebacker for the baltimore ravens was one of the first pro athletes to publicly support marriage equality. he said it's not only a gay issue. it's an equality issue pure and simple. maryland state delegate emmett burns jr. wrote to the rave ravensowner last week saying the football team should inhibit such expressions from your employee. our next guest, chris kluwe, who is the punter for the minnesota vikings quote a scathing letter to mr. burns. he started by reminding him of the first amendment. as i suspect, you have not read the constitution. i would like to remind you that the very first in this amendment deals with freedom of speech. as recently as 1962, the nfl still had segregation which was

only done away with by the brave athletes and coaches daring to speak their mind and do the right thing. kluwe wondered what mr. burns was so afraid of. how does gay marriage, in any way shape or form, affect your life? i can assure you that gay people getting married will have zero effect on your life, that wouldn't come into your house and steal your children. the entire letter is linked on our blog at ed.msnbc.com and i can tell you it's worth reading. joining me tonight is the punter of the minnesota vikings, chris kluwe. mr. kluwe, good to have you with us. what motivated you to respond to an issue almost on the other side of the country? what motivated you oo do this? >> well, it's an issue of free speech and of civil rights. the message that the delegate was sending out is it's not one that i think any progressive or person in this day and age would want to see in our government.

i mean, it's just -- it's not the right message. >> are you -- are you a politico? have you ever done anything like this before? >> i have written some scathing letters before, but they were mainly to people who attacked me for being a punter, and daring to speak my mind. so i had a little experience. >> in street terms, it was heartfully written, but we can't read all of it on the air. you were definitely pretty passionate about it. the nfl, the ravens released a statement, said they support their players' freedom of speech under the first amendment. brennan said he was thankful for the support he had gotten from the whole team. have you spoken to the linebacker from the ravers? >> not yet. i am hoping to because he's a fellow ucla aluminous and he lit me up in a game against chicago, so he's got that. but no, i think it's great that the ravens came out and supported him because as athletes, we have this very prominent platform where we can affect social change. i think it behooves all of us to

do the right thing. >> i understand in minnesota, this is on the ballot this november, correct? >> that is correct. >> how is that working out? is that a big conversation piece in minnesota? and are you actively involved in defeating that? >> yeah, yeah. it's definitely starting to pick up steam, and i am involved with the minnesotans for equality and hoping to defieat this constitutional amendment. it's making a permanent change to the state constitution, it's basically taking away people's rights. gay people would like to get married. i think that's something when we look back 20. 25 years from now and look at history, which side were you on? were you on the side that supported this or did you try to take people's rights away? >> football players have to stay focused here. is this going to disfocus you in any way? you're going to get lot of attention. what kind of response to you think vikings fans are going to give you when you take the field? >> so far, overwhelming positive on twitter. i had a lot of people congratulate me and say thank

you for speaking out and using your voice to say this. my focus on sunday will be against the jacksonville jaguars and punting the ball as best i can, but there's only so many hours a day i can punt. that goes to the thrust of the matter the delegate was trying to say to brendan. you should just be a football player. you should only be on the field, and i don't think that's right. i think everyone deserves to have their voice heard. >> do you think more players will get more involves as we get closer to the election? >> that depends on the player, and just how they feel their role is in terms of interacting with the media. for me personally, i know it's something i enjoy doing because i like to speak my mind and let people know that, hey, i feel this is not right or that this is a travesty of justice. >> chris kluwe, punt it out of the stadium, will you? i am a viking fan. great to have you with us. >> i'll do my best.